Construction-Oak Park, IL style

Construction, Construction, Construction, Oak park is redoing its” downtown” area twenty years too late! I put quotation marks around the “downtown” because the haphazard block of business and empty storefronts are not really a “downtown” if you think about it. In fact, with all the empty storefronts why is Oak Park committed to opening more places for storefronts?

I mean it’s great they are finally getting to the 21st century and developing their small crusty village for economic growth, but why not work with the owners of those properties to fill those empty spots first, then work on the new development of additional store fronts? Seems like common sense left Oak Park a long time ago, maybe the local government is making a killing now that the housing market is a bit better than before. Hey, maybe they just woke up and realized that you cannot keep taxing and creating fees for everything on the planet and sustain growth or the status quo as it is.

Side note: Yeah they even have a “newsletter” to terrorize residents (homeowners and renters alike) about the various fees they have to pay every month. Whichever is the case it is going to look very awkward with these bright big new buildings and their new storefronts across the street from these old buildings and empty storefronts!

Maybe it is just the college education kicking in, making me wonder how they will sustain growth or make the area attractive to customers when they have all these empty spaces. Hopefully, Oak Park will stop the patchwork design of economic development and get it together to make it cohesive enough to the eye and the pocketbook of the average consumer.